by Patty Jansen
There was only one chance, and she held that chance.
She ran her hand over the dragon’s side. “I hate to ask you this,” she said. “But this is the third, perhaps the fourth time you have faced the dog. It’s smaller than you, and certainly together with Bruno’s magic we should be able to defeat it. If you don’t fight, we are all going to die. I can fight, too. We should all fight together, but I want you to understand that there is no fleeing from this fight. I should never have called you away. We win or we die, and if we die, a lot of other people die as well. They’re all good people who don’t deserve to die, but who risk their lives in hopes of stopping a second Fire Wizard. We won’t get another chance.”
The dragon looked at her.
Nellie never knew whether he understood what she said. “The shepherd is a magician. I have no magic at all and have no chance against him. I can’t defeat him alone. No one can. We must defeat him together.”
It was too late. The fire dog had come to the entrance of the hall. It stood in the doorway, head low to the ground, with flames licking its luminous fur.
People screamed and pushed away from the door.
In the panic, Esme in the corner made a loud noise. She held her nose right up into the air. Mustafa had made his way out of the dining hall and was trying to keep her quiet. The dogs barked and the sheep bleated. The horses neighed. A couple of palace guards were trying to take them back outside, but the horses were nervous and kept rearing, especially a white-maned horse, which was one of Madame Sabine’s animals.
Nellie understood. The dragon wanted help, but it didn’t want that help from people.
She yelled at Mustafa, “Let her go!”
Mustafa used the side of the fountain to climb onto the saddle on Esme’s back.
Esme charged forward, moving surprisingly quickly for an animal of her size.
People pushed out of her way.
The dragon turned around slowly. He held his head high and faced the door to the hall.
The fire dog still stood at the entrance, because it had nowhere to go. It seemed smaller than before—of course, so did the dragon—but Nellie couldn’t be certain. She put her hand on the dragon’s flank, feeling the heat under the skin.
“Go, you have our blessing. May the Triune be with you.”
The dragon jumped forward. He met the fire dog in the doorway, and the force of the impact sent the two rolling back into the hall.
Nellie ran to the door looking in. The dragon had flown off with the fire dog in its claws. The creature was wriggling, trying to bite the dragon’s claws. It sank its teeth into the dragon’s leg.
The dragon flew to the other side of the hall, and bashed the dog into the wall. A rain of plaster came down.
It took off across the hall again, and bashed the fire dog into the other wall.
The fire dog struggled and howled.
Nellie was looking around for the shepherd, because without him the dog would be weakened.
The dragon flew low over the tables and chairs in the hall. He dragged the fire dog across the surface of the tables, pushing the tableware off the sides. The shattering of plates on tile floor drowned out the dog’s yelps.
A normal dog had managed to get into the hall. It was a large black-and-brown animal with short hair and a strong square head. It sprinted across the tables, snapping at the fire dog and barking when it wasn’t snapping.
Two more dogs entered the hall, following the first one.
With a loud fluttering, a large bird flew over Nellie’s head. It was a goose, and it soared over the tables after the dragon that flew with the fire dog hanging from its claws.
The black dog snapped at the fire dog. The goose bit its tail. Bits of fur floated to the ground, trailing smoke on the way down.
Then Nellie saw the shepherd.
He stood with his hands above his head, chanting words that Nellie couldn’t make out. His eyes had gone luminous white.
Despite her fear, she scouted for a weapon, finding a coat stand.
Oof, it was heavy.
The dragon had turned around again.
A trail of sparks dropped from the dog’s pelt. Where the sparks hit the table, the abandoned food on the plates came to life.
No, not all of it. The sausages that the circus party had brought remained where they were. But slices of bread, legs of ham, wine and tea flew into the air, turning into sparks of magic as they did so.
A flock of little furry creatures flew over, gathering the sparks as they went.
Nellie knew bats lived in the palace towers, but had never seen any about during the day, before.
A shout came from the doorway as a guard tried to stop a group of geese coming in. They ran waddling, flat-footed, into the hall while honking indignantly.
And when had the pigs come in from the kitchen yard? Nellie recognised the old cranky sow with the black ear.
While a servant ran in to chase after the pigs, two horses came into the hall, and they shied away from the leopard, which sprinted across at tremendous speed, leash trailing over the ground.
The dragon still flew around, but his wingbeats were slower, and once or twice he bumped into a table or chair.
“Come on, we have to help him!” Nellie called out.
She started towards the shepherd carrying the coat stand. Gisele and Koby followed. Henrik came as well, brandishing a lance that he appeared to have “borrowed” from a guard.
The fire dog managed to free itself and dropped to the ground. The dragon landed on a table, scattering plates and glasses.
The food that the palace had provided had all disintegrated, but Agatha’s biscuits were still intact. Nellie rushed to the table. The dragon looked terrible. She put the coat stand down and held out a biscuit to the dragon.
“Here, eat a biscuit.”
The dragon took it out of her hand. His lips were wet with moisture. Snot or sweat?
He crunched on the biscuits and then lifted his head, more alert than before.
She hadn’t expected the biscuit to help that much, but . . . Anneke had helped make them, and she had magic.
Nellie rubbed the dragon’s neck. “Come on, we’ve almost defeated the fire dog. You attack the dog. I’ll look after the prince. When we win, you can have all the carrots in the world.”
The dragon took off again. He picked the fire dog off the floor. The creature snarled at the dragon.
Nellie ran across the hall. She heaved the coat stand above her head. She had lost sight of Gisele and Koby, but Henrik was a few paces ahead of her, still making his way to where the shepherd stood against the stream of people who were fleeing the hall.
Several things happened at the same time. A loud crash came from the doorway as Esme made her way into the hall, ripping the doors from the frame. Mustafa hung onto the back of the saddle. Several horses burst in. The dragon flew towards the dais.
Bruno cowered in his seat, covering his face with his arms.
“Come on, help us!” called Nellie.
Casper grabbed a carving knife and jumped onto the table. He lunged for the fire dog when the dragon flew over.
Nellie approached the shepherd from behind. He held his hands raised, chanting evil words at the top of his voice.
Nellie swung the coat stand.
She didn’t think about him being the leader of the church she loved. She didn’t think about the beauty and serenity of the big church with its arched ceiling, scent of candle wax and incense and rows of pews full of friends and trusted people.
She only thought, This evil needs to be cut from the church.
She brought down the coat stand.
At the same time the shepherd turned around.
The coat stand came down. Nellie couldn’t stop it anymore. Henrik yelled behind her, but she couldn’t hear his words.
The shepherd held up his hands to protect himself from the blow. Magic burst from his hands and engulfed the metal stand. Nellie had to let go of it.
>
But when this happened, the shepherd lost control of the fire dog. It stopped biting and scratching the dragon.
“You insignificant little woman,” snarled the shepherd. “How dare you attack me!”
Nellie was so scared she felt numb. And the numbness reduced her fear. While standing there, facing this terrible man with the skull-like face and the blood of people on his hands, she felt serene. He could kill her if he wanted, but for that moment she didn’t care, because he was wrong and the Triune would punish him.
“You worry about wrong and right, and about the real church,” she said, her mouth stiff with nerves. “We are the real church, because the Triune loves us all and dislikes cruelty. In fact, it took cruelty into itself and suffered on our behalf so that we didn’t have to. We are the church, and you’re just a selfish tyrant.”
He was going to reply. He was going to smite her with the magic that was flowing from his hands like smoke, but the dragon was flying up the middle of the hall, coming straight for the shepherd with a ball of flames in its paws.
He must have seen the shock in Nellie’s eyes, and noticed how she stumbled back. He turned around.
Too late.
The dragon dropped the flaming ball—the magical essence of the fire dog—on top of the shepherd. It exploded in a big ball of fire.
Nellie ducked. For a moment, she could see nothing in the brightness of the magical fire.
The flames crept up the dais, consuming the carpet and licking at the table that stood there. Strands of magic encased the inferno, dousing the flames, but some of it still leaked out.
Esme trotted across the hall, with Mustafa still trying to climb into the saddle. She stuck her nose into a bowl that contained water for washing one’s hands. She then spurted the water onto the burning carpet. The fire went out in a cloud of smoke.
And when the smoke cleared, Bruno sat straight-backed on his throne, as if nothing had happened.
“All hail the king,” someone yelled.
Someone repeated the acclamation, and it went all around the dining hall. People from the foyer rushed into the hall. In their hurry, they trampled the dust—all that was left of Shepherd Wilfridus—into the carpet.
A little spark of gold flew across the devastation and settled on Nellie’s hand. The dragon had shrunk so much containing the fire that he was barely bigger than a mouse. Nellie used her index finger to stroke his back.
“Thank you,” she said, because you always had to be nice, even to a dragon.
Amid the chaos and cheering, Bruno came down the dais. When he stood next to Nellie, he again was the little fragile boy she rescued from the crypt. He had left the crown on the seat of the throne and the sceptre leaning against the armrest.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice soft.
“It all ended up fine,” Nellie said.
“Yes, but that wasn’t because of anything I did. I was silly and impatient. I’m only alive because people helped me, and you helped me most of all.”
He held the dragon box out to her.
Nellie took it, opened it and let the dragon flutter inside. Then she shut the box and handed it back to Bruno.
He shook his head. “It’s yours.”
“It is your dragon. Your father gave it to you.”
“I don’t know how to use it. It won’t listen to me anyway. I thought I knew how to control it, but I don’t.”
“Then you should learn.”
Chapter 25
WHILE EVERYONE WAS celebrating victory—or merely confused—Master Thiele’s men moved into the palace.
The master himself was not there, but Nellie recognised several of the dark-clad men who came into the hall. They sealed the entrances. They made sure the servants went back downstairs and all the people who had streamed into the palace left again.
Master Thiele himself came in later, in the company of three heavily armed guards. By this time, Casper and the noble youngsters had already cleaned up a good deal of the mess: the broken plates, the spilled food, the remains of burnt items. Wet carpets were replaced with dry ones, and the tables put back in orderly fashion.
Nellie helped with this, although her dress made the work uncomfortable because one side kept slipping off her shoulder.
But when Master Thiele came in, the table was ready. He sat down and gestured for everyone in the hall to do the same.
“Us, too?” Nellie asked.
“Especially you,” he said.
Nellie felt nervous. She had to remind herself that she was no longer Nellie the maid, and that hiding in the kitchen was such an easy thing to do.
When everyone was seated, Master Thiele gave a quick explanation of who he was. He told the gathered young nobles that in the chaos following the king and queen’s deaths, he had taken care of the crown and sceptre, planning to bring them out when a rightful heir to the throne appeared or was appointed with the approval of the citizens.
But since Bruno was too young, and not properly prepared, a temporary solution must be found. “We need to resolve the regency quickly and peacefully.”
Everyone looked at Bruno, whose face was pale and who appeared very small.
He spoke only a few stammering words, his cheeks red. Ten years locked up in a dungeon was no way to prepare a young boy for a task as important as this.
“He will need our help,” Master Thiele continued. “He is alone and too young. Until he is older, we need a strong leader—a group of leaders. Ideally, we need to write a council of advisors into the laws.”
Casper said, “I can help.”
“You’re too young, too. For the stability of the city, we need someone older and more experienced to establish proper procedures.”
“The mayor,” Henrik said.
“Someone whose honesty is not compromised by ties either with the Regent’s family or any of the competing noble houses or countries.”
According to the law, the Regent was appointed by the church, and none of the Regent’s powers transferred to the Regent’s family after his death. The church assumed the power instead, but the law said nothing about what happened in the absence of the leader of the church. This was why Master Thiele had sealed the palace off and insisted that no one leave the hall until they found a temporary solution.
The discussions went on well into the night. Instead of allowing the influential families to come in together and argue, Master Thiele invited them one by one and asked them very specific questions. He explained, in between interviews, that he was looking for people who were willing to consider the welfare of the city over their own or that of their business.
From these visits, he produced a list of names of candidates for council positions, which the attendees in the room approved.
By now, it was very late, and the young people in the hall looked worn out. To be sure, Nellie felt worn out. It had been a long day.
But Master Thiele insisted the younger generation be included in the meetings, because the carrying out of the agreement would rest on their shoulders.
They agreed that over the next few days, they would put together a governing council that would take control of the city until a more permanent solution could be negotiated.
The council would include representatives from each industry, as well as elected officials, such as the mayor, and the heads of the major organisations. Surprise suggestions were Master Beck from the Science Guild and the leaders of the Baker’s Guild and Tailor’s Guild. No noble representatives were to be included solely on the basis that they were noble. Many names from the nobility were on the list of possibilities, but it was clear why each person was there: because of their trade or their knowledge. There would be a position for the church, but Master Thiele would let the church find a candidate to fill it. That would take some time.
After this, Master Thiele ordered the doors opened. A guard carried a copy of the agreement across the palace forecourt, and attached it, as traditional, to the door of the church.
&nbs
p; When everyone was leaving the room, going back home or finding places to sleep, Nellie felt a deep sense of fatigue come over her.
“I guess it’s time I find that little cottage and start my vegetable garden,” she said.
“Bruno has asked us to stay,” Henrik told her.
“Stay here?” Nellie looked around.
She had spent a good deal of her life in the palace, both as servant and queen’s confidante. The place was full of memories, good and bad.
“He says that he doesn’t have parents. We can be his parents.”
“He has his father.”
“Who know where he is or when he’s coming back?”
“Please, I want all of you to stay,” Casper said from behind her. He looked taller than he had seemed the last time she met him, and the blue suit didn’t look as ridiculous on him as it had looked before. His younger brother was with him. “We don’t have anywhere to go.”
“What about your mother?”
“She wants to go back to Lurezia.”
“But she said she was proud of you.”
Frederick said, “She did, but she doesn’t want to live here anymore.”
Casper looked down. “I want to have a real business, with ships and captains and . . . people who can look me in the eye and tell me I’m a respectable person. People who would defend me and the business because they believe it’s a good business. Not because they like my banquets. I want a wife whose family thinks I’m a good person. Can you help me with that?”
“Of course.” Heavens, poor young man.
The story of what had happened here over the past few days would no doubt be told later, but it had a profound effect on these young people.
And the idea of staying in the palace appealed to Nellie.
After spending the night at Henrik daughter’s house, she returned to the palace the next day to oversee cleaning up the royal family’s living areas. She took great pleasure in removing the Regent’s dreadful furniture and dusting off Queen Johanna’s elegant furnishings and restoring them to their former positions. She made sure that all the rooms were well-furnished and welcoming.